J3URNiSKeD GoLr 



^/lUAM j^ORDSiVORTH 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Shelf _.;Pi..„ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




iit0 0f gxiviiisTxexI ©old. 



WILLIAM'^VORDSWORTH 
u 

3^ COMPILED BY ROSE PORTER. 



New Yokk: 

ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 

38 West Twenty-third Street 



r 



T]?5-?f4 



COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY. 



Remember— 

The mine of real life 

Dig for us ; and present us^ itt the shape 

Of virgin ore — Goldl 

W 



Hast thou seen, with flash incessant, 

Bubbles gliding under ice, 
Bodied forth and evanescent, 

No one knows by what device ? 

Such are thoughts !— a ^vind-s\vept meadow 

Mimicking a troubled sea ; 
Such is Life : and death a shadow 

From the rock eternity 1 



Life, — is energy of love 
Divine or human ; exercised in pain. 
In strife, in tribulation ; and ordained, 
If so approved and sanctified, to pass 
Through shades and silent rest, to endless joy. 
5 



To every Form of being is assigned 
An active Principle : 

.... It subsists 
In all things, in all natures : in the stars 
Of azure heaven, the unenduring clouds, 
In flower and tree, in every pebbly stone 
That paves the brooks, the stationary rocks, 
The moving waters, and the invisible air. 
Whate'er exists hath properties that spread 
Beyond itself, communicating good, 
A simple blessing, or with evil mixed. 



Small service is true service while it lasts : 
Of humblest Friends, — scorn not one ; 

The Daisy, by the shadow that it casts, 
Protects the lingering dew-drop from the Sun. 
6 



Tbo grxtwih xxf thx) Saul. 

Fair seed-time had my soul, and I grew, 
Fostered alike by beauty and by fear. 



Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows 
Like harmony in music : there is a dark 
Inscrutable workmanship that reconciles 
Discordant elements, makes them cling together 
In one society. 

Wisdom and Spirit of the universe ! 
Thou soul that art the eternity of thought, 
That givest to forms and images a breath 
And everlasting motion, not in vain, 
By day or star-light thus from my first dawn 
Of childhood didst thou intertwine for me 
The passions that build up our human soul. 
7 



The jpiumat): l^^art. 

Man is dear to man ; the poorest poor 

Long for some moments in a weary life 

When they can know and feel that they have been, 

Themselves, the fathers and the dealers-out 

Of some small blessings ; have been kind to such 

As needed kindness, for this single catise, 

That we have all of us one human heart. 



The mild necessity of use compels 

To acts of love ; and habit does the work 

Of reason ; yet prepares that after-joy 

Which reason cherishes. And thus the soul, 

By that sweet taste of pleasure unpursued, 

Doth find herself insensibly disposed 

To virtue and true goodness. 



Building up the Being that we are : 

Deeply drinking in the soul of things, 

We shall be wise perforce ; and, while inspired 

By choice, and conscious that the Will is free, 

Shall move unswerving, even as if impelled 

By strict necessity, along the path 

Of order and of good. Whate'er we see. 

Or feel, shall tend to quicken and refine : 

Shall fix, in calmer seats of moral strength, 

Earthly desires ; and raise, to loftier heights 

Of divine love, our intellectual souL 



Hfnda 



Know that pride, 
Howe'er disguised in its own majesty, 
Is littleness : that he who feels contempt 
For any living thing, hath faculties 
Whi'ch he has never used : that thought with him 
Is in its infancy. The man whose eye 
Is ever on himself doth look on one, 
The least of Nature's works, one who might move 
The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds 
Unlawful ever. O be wiser, thou ! 
Instructed that true knowledge leads to love ; 
True dignity abides with him alone 
Who, in the silent hour of inward thought, 
Can still suspect, and still revere himself, 
In lowliness of thought. 



Tha '&m txi Faith. 

I have seen 
A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract 
Of inland ground, applying to his ear 
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell ; 
To which, in silence hushed, his very soul 
Listened intensely ; and his countenance soon 
Brightened with joy ; for from within were heard 
Murmurings, whereby the monitor expressed 
Mysterious union with its native sea. 
Even such a shell the universe itself 
Is to the ear of Faith : and there are times, 
I doubt not, when to you it doth impart 
Authentic tidings of invisible things ; 
Of ebb and flow, and ever-during power ; 
And central peace, subsisting at the heart 
Of endless agitation. 



The Soul. 

Within the soul a faculty abides, 
That with interpositions, which would hide 
And darken, so can deal that they become 
Contingencies of pomp ; and serve to exalt 
Her native brightness. As the ample moon, 
In the deep stillness of a summer even. 
Rising behind a thick and lofty grove. 
Burns, like an unconsuming fire of light. 
In the green trees ; and, kindling on all sides 
Their leafy umbrage, turns the dusky veil 
Into a substance glorious as her own. 
Yea, with her own incorporated, by power 
Capacious and serene. Like power abides 
In man's celestial spirit. 



Han's ^afuge. 

One adequate support 
For the calamities of mortal life 
Exists, — one only ; an assured belief 
That the procession of our fate, howe'er 
Sad or disturbed, is ordered by a Being 
Of infinite benevolence and power ; 
Whose everlasting purposes embrace 
All accidents, converting them to good. 



He neither felt encouragement nor hope ; 

For moral dignity, and strength of mind 

Were wanting ; and simplicity of life : 

And reverence for himself ; and, last and best. 

Confiding thoughts, through love and fear of Him 

Before w^hose sight the troubles of this world 

Are vain, as billows in a tossing sea. 

13 



The darts of anguish _fix not where the seat 
Of suffering hath been thoroughly fortified 
By acquiescence in the Will supreme 
For time and for eternity : by faith, 
Faith absolute in God, including hope, 
And the defence that lies in boundless love 
Of His perfections ; with habitual dread 
Of aught unworthily conceived, endured 
Impatiently, ill-done, or left undone, 
To the dishonor of His holy name. 
Soul of our souls, and Safeguard of the world I 
Sustain, Thou only canst, the sick of heart ; 
Restore their languid spirits, and recall 
Their lost affections, unto Thee and Thine I 



Ji.$p:ijratixxn$. 



.... Cease I not to struggle, and aspire 
Heavenward ; and chide the part of me that flags, 
Through sinful choice ; 

.... 'Tis, by comparison, an easy task 
Earth to despise ; but to converse with heaven, — 
That is not easy ; — to relinquish all 
We have, or hope, of happiness and joy, 
And stand in freedom loosened from this world, 
I deem not arduous ; but must needs confess 
This is a thing impossible to frame 
Conceptions equal to the soul's desires ; 
And the most difficult of tasks to keep 
Heights which the soul is competent to gain. 
IS 



Jmmavtal LiU. 

I cannot doubt that they whom you deplore 
Are glorified ; or, if they sleep, shall waie 
From sleep, and dwell with God in endless love. 
Hope, below this, consists not with belief 
In mercy, carried infinite degfrees 
Beyond the tenderness of human hearts : 
Hope, below this, consists not with belief 
In perfect wisdom, guiding mightiest power, 
That finds no limits but her own pure will. 
Here then we rest ; not fearing for our creed 
The worst that human reasoning can achieve, 
To unsettle or perplex it. 
z6 



Seek faith by virtue, strive 
To yield entire submission to the law 
Of conscience, — conscience reverenced and obeyed, 
As God's most intimate presence in the soul, 
And His most perfect image in the world. 
— Endeavor thus to live ; these rules regard ; 
These helps solicit ; and a steadfast seat 
Shall then be yours among the happy few 
Who dwell on earth, yet breathe empyreal air, 
Sons of the morning. For your nobler part, 
Ere disencumbered of her mortal chains. 
Doubts shall be queUed and troubles chased away ; 
With only such degree of sadness left 
As may support longings of pure desire. 



Happy is he who lives to understand, 
Not human nature only, but explores 
All natures, — to the end that he may find 
The law that governs each ; and where begins 
The union, the partition where, that makes 
Kind and degree among all visible Beings ; 

That assigns 
To every class its station and its office, 
Through all the mighty commonwealth of things ; 
Up from the creeping plant to sovereign Man. 
Such converse, if directed by a meek, 
Sincere, and humble spirit, teaches love : 
For knowledge is delight, and such delight 
Breeds love : 5'^et .... 
It teaches less to love than to adore : 
If that be not indeed the highest love I 



Itemal Jhings. 



Inspire me with ability to seek 
Repose and hope among eternal things, — 
Father of heaven and earth ! and I am rich, 
And will possess my portion in content ! 
* And what are things eternal ? " — Powers depart, 
Possessions vanish, and opinions change, 
And passions hold a fluctuating seat ; 
But, by the storms of circumstance unshaken, 
And subject neither to eclipse nor wane, 
Duty exists : — immutably survive. 
For our support, the measures and the forms 
Which an abstract intelligence supplies : 
Whose kingdom is, where time and space are not. 



Mi^mtxni^}. 



A Pen — to register : a key — 

That winds through secret wards ; 
Are well assigned to Memory 

By allegoric Bards. 
As aptly, also, might be given 

A Pencil to her hand ; 
That, softening objects, sometimes even 

Outstrips the heart's demand : 
That smooths foregone distress, the lines 

Of lingering care subdues, 
Long-vanished happiness refmes, 

And clothes in brighter hues : 
O ! that our lives, which flee so fast, 

In purity were such, 
That not an image of the past 

Should fear that pencil's touch 1 



My heart leaps up when I behold 

A rainbow in the sky : 
So was it when my life began : 
So is it now I am a man : 
So be it when I shall grow old, 

Or let me die ! 
The Child is father of the Man : 
And I could wish my days to be 
Bound each to each by natural piety. 



Th3 Rainbow comes and goes 

And lovely is the Rose ; 

The Moon doth with delight 

Look round her when the heavens are bare ; 

The sunshine is a glorious birth : 
But yet I know, where'er I go, 
That there hath passed away a glory from the earth. 



^ Btxnn^i to Sl^^p. 

A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by, 
One after one : the sound of rain, and bees 
Murmuring : the fall of rivers, winds and seas. 
Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky ; 
I have thought of all by turns, and yet do lie 
Sleepless ! and soon the small birds' melodies 
Must hear, first uttered from my orchard trees ; 
And the first cuckoo's melancholy cry. 
Even thus last night, and two nights more, I lay, 
And could not win thee, Sleep ! by any stealth ; 
So do not let me wear to-night away ; 
Without thee what is all the morning's wealth ? 
Come, blessed barrier between day and day, 
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health I 



The Jfatb txi the Wind. 

What way does the Wind come ? What way does he go ? 

He rides over the water, and over the snow, 

Through wood and through vale : and, o'er rocky height 

Which the goat cannot climb, takes his sounding flight ; 

He tosses about in every bare tree. 

As, if you look up, you plainly may see ; 

But how he will come, and whither he goes, 

There's never a scholar in England knows. 

Sometimes he'll hide in the cave of a rock, 
Then whistle as shrill as the buzzard cock ; 
— Yet seek him, — and what shall you find in the place ? 
Nothing but silence and empty space ! 
23 



Heed not though none should call thee fedr ; 

So, Mary, let it be 
If naught in loveliness compare 

With what thou art to me. 
True beauty dwells in deep retreats. 

Whose veil is unremoved 
Till heart with heart in concord beats, 

And the lover is beloved. 
Yes ! thou art fair, yet be not moved 

To scorn the declaration. 
That sometimes I in thee have loved 

My fancy's own creation. 
Imag^ination needs must stir : 

Dear Maid, this truth believe, 
Minds that have nothing to confer 

Find little to perceive. 
24 



Batur^'s Hfxx^ts. 



Oh ! many are the Poets that are sown 

By Nature ; men endowed with highest gifts, 

The vision and the faculty divine ; 

Yet wanting the accomplishment of verse, 

Which, in the docile season of their youth 

It was denied them to acquire 

Nor having e'er as life advanced, been led 

By circumstance to take unto the height 

The measure of themselves, these favored Beings, 

All but a scattered few, Hve out their time, 

Husbanding that which they possess within, 

And go to the grave, unthought of. Strongest minds 

Are often those of whom the noisy world 

Hears least. 



The thought of our past years in me doth breed 

Perpetual benediction : not indeed 

For that which is most worthy to be blest ; 

Delight and liberty, the simple creed 

Of Childhood, whether busy or at rest, 

But for those obstinate questionings 

Of sense and outward things. 

Fallings from us, vanishings. 

But for those first affections, 

Those shadowy recollections, 

Which, be they what they may. 

Are yet the fountain light of all our day, 

Are yet a master light of aU our seeing ; 

Uphold us, cherish, and have power to make 
Our noisy years seem moments in the being 
Of the eternal Silence ; truths that wake to perish never. 

36 



Unoccupied by sorrow of its own, 

His heart lay open ; and, by Nature tuned 

And constant disposition of his thoughts 

To sympathy with man, he was ahve 

To all that was enjoyed where'er he went, 

And all that was endured ; for, in himself 

Happy, and quiet in his cheerfulness. 

He had no painful pressure from without 

That made him turn aside from wretchedness 

With coward fears. He could afford to suffer 

With those whom he saw suffer. Hence it came 

That in our best experience he was rich 

And in the wisdom of our daily life. 

W 27 



Jix a ghild. 

Thou faery voyager ! that dost float 
In such clear water, that thy boat 
May rather seem 

To brood on air than on an earthly stream ; 
Suspended in a stream as clear as sky, 
Where earth and heaven do make one imagery ; 
O blessed vision ! happy child ! 

What hast thou to do with sorrow ? 
Thou art a dew-drop, which the mom brings forth, 
111 fitted to sustain unkindly shocks, 
Or to be trailed along the soiling earth ; 
A gem that glitters while it Uves, 
And no forewarning gives : 
But, at the touch of wrong, without a strife 
Slips in a moment out of life. 
28 



Bato^^ as a T0aobm\ 

The Boy, many an evening;, to his distant home 
In solitude returning-, saw the hills 
Grow larger in the darkness : all alone 
Beheld the stars come out above his head. — 

So the foundations of his mind were laid, 

While yet a child, and lon^ before his time, 
Had he perceived the presence and the power 
Of greatness : and deep feelings had impressed 
So vividly great objects, that they lay 
Upon his mind like substances, whose presence 
Perplexed the bodily sense. He had received 

A precious gift 

.... He thence attained 
An active power to fasten images 
Upon his brain : and on their pictured lines 
Intensely brooded, even till they acquired 
The liveliness of dreams. 



He had felt the power 
Of Nature, and was prepared 
By his intense conceptions, to receive 
Deeply the lesson deep of love which he 
Whom Nature, by whatever means, has taught 
To feel intensely, cannot but receive. 

Thus informed, 
He had small need of books : for many a tale 
Traditionary round the mountains hung, 
And many a legend, peopling the dark woods, 
Nourished Imagination in her growth, 
And gave the Mind that apprehensive power 
By which she is made quick to recognize 
The moral properties and scope of things. 
30 



3f^at);]e^. 



The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed 

If Thou the spirit give by which I pray ; 

My unassisted heart is barren clay, 

That of its native self can nothing feed : 

Of good and pious works Thou art the seed, 

That quickens only where Thou say'st it may. 

Unless Thou show to us Thine own true way 

No man can find it ; Father ! Thou must lead. 

Do Thou, then, breathe those thoughts into my mind 

By which such virtue may in me be bred 

That in Thy holy footsteps I may tread ; 

The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind, 

That I may have the power to sing of Thee, 

And sound Thy praises everlastingly. 



IS. JIumlile mind. 

His being became 
Sublime and comprehensive ! Low desires, 
Low thoughts, had there no place ; yet was his heart 
Lowly : for he was meek in gratitude. 

And he acquired 
Wisdom, which works through patience ; thence he learned 
In oft-recurring hours of sober thought 
To look on Nature with a humble heart, 
Self-questioned where it did not understand, 
And with a superstitious eye of love. 



He was o'erpowered 
By Nature, .... by mystery and hope, 
And the first virgin passion of a soul 
Communing with the glorious universe. 

3* 



Sin-blighted though we are, we — 
The reasoning Sons of Men — 

From one oblivious winter called, 
Shall rise, and breathe again ; 

And in eternal summer lose 
Our threescore years and ten. 

To humbleness of heart descends 
This prescience from on high. 

The faith that elevates the just. 
Before and when they die ; 

And makes each soul a separate heaven, 
A court for Deity. 
33 



Truth has her pleasure-grounds, her haunts of ease 

And easy contemplation : gay parterres, 

And labyrinthine walks, her sunny glades 

And shady groves in studied contrast, — each, 

For recreation, leading into each ; 

There may he range, if willing to partake 

Their soft indulgences, and in due time 

May issue thence, recruited for the tasks 

And course of service Truth requires from those 

Who tend her altars, wait upon her throne. 

And guard her fortresses. 



Heaven-bom, the Soul a heavenward course must hold : 
Beyond the visible world she soars. 
34 



As men from men 
Do, in the constitution of their souls, 
Differ, by mystery not to be explained ; 
And as we fall by various ways, and sink 
One deeper than another, self -condemned. 
Through manifold degrees of guUt and shame : 
So manifold and various are the ways 
Of restoration, fashioned to the steps 
Of aU infirmity, and tending all 
To the same point, attainable by all, — 
Peace in ourselves, and union with our God. 



Love, blessed Love, is everywhere ! 
35 



3|>reDi0us in: j^xxd^s Sight 

'Tis Nature's law 
That none, the meanest of created things, 
Of forms created the most vile and brute, 
The dullest or most noxious, should exist 
Divorced from good, — a spirit and a pulse of good, 
A life and soul, to every mood of being 
Inseparably linked. Then be assured 
That least of all can aught — that ever owned 
The heaven-regarding eye and front sublime 
Which man is bom to— sink, howe'er depressed, 
So low as to be scorned without a sin ; 
Without offence to God, cast out of view ; 
Like the dried remnants of a garden-flower 
Whose seeds are shed, or as an implement 
Worn out and worthless. 
•36 



Jt Satxbatb xrl tba Jf aart. 

Kind Nature keeps a heavenly door 
Wide open. 

And vapors magnify and spread 
The glory of the sun's bright head — 
Still constant in her worship, still 
Conforming to the Eternal Will, 
Whether men sow or reap the fields, 
Divine monition Nature yields, 
That not by bread alone we live, 
Or what a hand of flesh can give ; 
That every day should leave some part 
Free for a Sabbath of the heart : 
So shall the seventh be truly blest, 
From mom to eve, with hallowed rest. 



She was a Phantom of delight 

A Spirit, yet a Woman too ! 

A Creature not too bright or good 

For human nature's daily food ; 

For transient sorrows, simple wiles, 

Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles. 

A Being breathing thoughtful breath, 
A Traveller between life and death ; 
The reason firm, the temperate will, 
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill ; 
A perfect Woman, nobly planned, 
To warn, to comfort, and command ; 
And yet a Spirit still, and bright 
With something of angelic light. 
38 



jpi^atronly; Blessings. 

O bounty without measure ! while the gra.ce 
Of Heaven doth .... from humblest springs^ 

Pour pleasure forth, and solaces that trace 
A mazy course along familiar things, 

Well may our hearts have faith that blessings come, 
Streaming from founts above the starry sky, 

With angels, when their own untroubled home 
They leave, and speed on nightly embassy 

To visit earthly chambers, — and for whom ? 
Yea, both for souls who God's forbearance try, 
And those that seek His help, and for His mercy sigh. 
39 



^ glad jpieart. 

I will walk through life in such a way 
That, when time brings on decay, 
Now and then I may possess 
Hours of perfect gladsomeness. 
Pleased by any random toy, — 
By a kitten's busy joy, 
Or an infant's laughing eye 
Sharing in the ecstasy, — 
I would fare like that or this, 
Find my wisdom in my bliss ; 
Keep the sprightly soul awake, 
And have faculties to take, 
Even from things by sorrow wrought. 
Matter for a jocund thought, 
Spite of care, and spite of grief, 
To gambol with Life's falling Leaf. 
40 



Ftow^ti Spints. 

Where will they stop, those breathing Powers, 

The spirits of the new-bom flowers ? 

They wander with the breeze, they wind 

Where'er the streams a passage find ; 

Up from their native ground they rise 

In mute aerial harmonies ; 

From humble violet, modest thyme, 

Exhaled, the essential odors climb, 

As if no space below the sky 

Their subtle flight could satisfy ; 

Heaven will not tax our thoughts with pride 

If like ambition be their g^ide. 

Give ear, O Man ! to their appeal, 
And thirst for no inferior zeal, 
Thou who canst thitik as well as feel, 



The smoothest seas will sometimes prove, 
To the confiding Bark, untrue ; 

And, if she trust the stars above, 
They can be treacherous too. 

But Thou art true, incarnate Lord, 
Who didst vouchsafe for man to die ; 

Thy smile is sure. Thy plighted word 
No change can falsify 1 

I bent before Thy gracious throne, 
And asked for peace on suppliant knee ; 

And peace was given, — nor peace alone, 
But faith sublimed to ecstasy I 



Stay, little cheerful Robin ! stay, 

And at my casement sing. 
Though it should prove a farewell lay 

And this our parting spring. 

Though I, alas ! may ne'er enjoy 

The promise in thy song, 
A charm, that thought cannot destroy, 

Doth to thy strain belong. 

Methinks that in my dying hour 
Thy song would still be dear, 

And with a more than earthly power 
My passing Spirit cheer. 

Then, little Bird, this boon confer ; 

Come, and my requiem sing. 
Nor fail to be the harbinger ^ 

Of everlasting Spring. 

W 43 



Mam^d and SingU. 

Between 

Man and his helpmeet in fast wedlock joined 
Through God, is raised a spirit and soul of love 
Without whose blissful influence Paradise 
Had been no Paradise 

The hermit, exercised in prayer and praise 
And feeding daily on the hope of heaven, 
Is happy in his vow, and fondly cleaves 
To life-long singleness ; but happier far 
Was to your souls, and, to the thoughts of others, 
A thousand times more beautiful appeared 
Your ifual loneliness. The sacred tie 
Is broken : yet why grieve ? for Time but holds 
His moiety in trust, till Joy shall lead 
To the blest world where parting is unknown. 
44 



The little hedge-row birds, 
That peck along the road, regard him not. 
He travels on, and in his face, his step, 
His gait, is one expression : every limb, 
His look and bending figure, all bespeak 
A man who does not move ^vith pain, but moves 
With thought. — He is insensibly subdued 
To settled quiet : he is one by whom 
All effort seems forgotten ; one to whom 
Long patience have such mild composure given, 
That patience now doth seem a thing of which 
He hath no need. He is by nature led 
To peace so perfect, that the young behold 
With envy what the Old Man hardly feels. 



There's a Tree, of many, one, 

A single Field which I have looked upon, 
Both of them speak of something that is gone ; 
The pansy at my feet 
Doth the same tale repeat : 
Whither is fled the visionary gleam ? 
Where is it now, the glory and the dream ? 

Though nothing can bring back the hour 
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower : 
We will grieve not, rather find 
Strength in what remains behind. 

In the soothing thoughts that spring 
Out of human suffering : 
In the faith that looks through death, 
In years that bring the philosophic mind. 
46 



Husings iixv a May; MnvniuQ, 

All the earth is gay, 

Land and sea 
Give themselves up to jollity, 
And with the heart of May 
Doth every beast keep holiday : — 



Ye blessed Creatures, I have heard the call 
Ye to each other make : I see 
The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee : 
My heart is at your festival. 
My head hath its coronal. 
The fulness of your bliss, I feel, I feel it all. 
O evil day ! if I were sullen 
While Earth herself is adorning 
This sweet May morning. 
47 



The Man— 

Who with understanding heart 
Both knows and loves such objects as excite 
No morbid passions, no disquietude, 
No vengeance, and no hatred — needs must feel 
The joy of that pure principle of love 
So deeply, that, unsatisfied with aught 
Less pure and exquisite, he cannot choose 
But seek for objects of a kindred love 
In fellow-natures and a kindred joy. 
Accordingly, he by degrees perceives 
His feehng of aversion softened down : 
A holy tenderness pervades his frame. 
.... He looks round 

And seeks for good, and finds the good he seeks, 
48 



There was a time when meadow, g.ove, and stream 

The earth, and every common sight, 
To me did seem 

Apparelled in celestial hght, 
The glory and the freshness of a dream. 



Heaven lies about us in our infancy ! 
Shades of the prison-house begin to close 

Upon the growing Boy, 
But he beholds the light, and whence it flows, 

He sees it in his joy ; 
The Youth, who daily farther from the east 
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest 
And by the vision splendid 
Is on his way attended : 
At length the Man perceives it die away, 
And fade into the light of common day. 

49 



Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie 

Thy Soul's immensity : 
Thou best Philosopher, who yet dost keep 

Thy heritage 

Thou, over whom thy Immortality 
Broods like the Day, a Master o'er a Slave, 
A Presence which is not to be put by : 
Thou little Child, yet glorious in the might 
Of heaven-bom freedom on thy being's height, 
Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke 
The years to bring the inevitable yoke. 
Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife ? 
Full soon thy Soul shall have her earthly freight. 
And custom lie upon thee with a weight, 
Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life, 
so 



larl^ Hfi^tg. 



The Shepherd-lad, that in the sunshine carves, 
On the green turf, a dial, — ^to divide 
The silent hours ; and who to that report 
Can portion out his pleasures, and adapt, 
Throughout a long and lonely summer's day. 
His round of pastoral duties, is not left 
With less intelligence for moral things 
Of gravest import. Early he perceives, 
Within himself, a measure and a rule, 
Which to the sun of truth he can apply. 
That shines for him, and shines for all mankind. 

.... He refers 
His notions to this standard ; on this rock 
Rests his desires : and hence, in after life, 
Soul-btrengthening patience, and sublime content. 



God made the Great Book of the World. 



Early had he learned 
To reverence the volume that displays 
The mystery, the life which cannot die ; 
But in the mountains did he/ee/ his faith 
All things, responsive to the writing, there 
Breathed immortality, revolving life, 
And greatness still revolving : infinite : 
There httleness was not : the least of things 
Seemed infinite : and there his spirit shaped 
Her prospects, nor did he believe, — he saw. 



The mind was filled with inward light. 



Jh^ Hfatb xxl tbB Bun. 

Stationed on tha top 
Of some huge hill, expectant, I beheld 
The sun rise up, from distant chmes returned 
Darkness to chase, and sleep ; and bring the day, 
Kis bounteous gift ! or saw him toward the deep 
Sink, with a retinue of ftaming clouds 
Attended : then my spirit was entranced 
With joy exalted to beatitude ; 
The measure of my soul was filled with bliss, 
And holiest love ; as earth, sea, air, with light, 
With pomp, with glory, with magnificence I 
53 



The Sky. 



I stand, the cbasm of sky above my head 

Is heaven's profoundest azure : no domain 

For fickle, short-lived clouds to occupy, 

Or to pass through : but rather an abyss 

In which the everlasting stars abide ; 

And whose soft gloom, and boundless depth, might tempt 

The curious eye to look for them by day. 



How beautiful this dome of sky I 



Here you stand, 
Adore, and worship, when you know it not ; 
Pious beyond the intention of your thought : 
Devout above the meaning of your will. 
54 



0ut xif the mist. 

Through the dull mist I followed, when a step, 
A single step, that freed me from the skirts 
Of the blind vapor, opened to my view 
Glory beyond all glory ever seen 
By waking sense or by the dreaming soul ! 

O, 'twas an unimaginable sight 1 
Clouds, mists, streams, watery rocks, and emerald turf, 
Clouds of aU tincture, rocks and sapphire sky, 
Confused, commingled, mutually inflamed. 
Molten together, and composing thus. 
Each lost in each, that marvellous array 
Of temple, palace, citadel, and huge 
Fantastic pomp of structure without name, 
In fleecy fold voluminous enwrapped. 
55 



Not Fortune's slave is Man : our state 
Enjoins, while firm resolves await 

On wishes just and wise, 
That strenuous action follow both, 
And life be one perpetual growth 

Of heavenward enterprise. 

So taught, so trained, we boldly face 
All accidents of time and place ; 

Whatever props may fail, 
Trust in that sovereign law can spread 
New glory o'er the mountain's head, 

Fresh beaiity through the vale. 
S6 



Nature never did betray 
The heart that loved her : 'tis her privilege, 
Through all the years of this our life, to lead 
From joy to joy ; for she can so inform 
The mind t^at is within us, so impress 
With quietness and beauty, and so feed 
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, 
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men, 
Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb 
Our cheerful faith that all which we behold 
Is full of blessings. 



^n ^niumn Walk. 

We played with our time : and, as we strolled along, 
It was our occupation to observe 
Such objects as the waves had tossed ashoie, — 
Feather, or leaf, or reed, or withered bough, 

And, not seldom did we stop to watch some tuft 

Of dandeUon seed, or thistle's beard. 

That skimmed the surface of the dead calm lake. 

And often we paused, one now. 

And now the other, to point out, perchance 
To pluck, some flower or water-weed, too fair 
Either to be divided from the place 
On which it grew, or to be left alone 
To its own beauty. 

58 



" Wkat^ you are stepping westward ? " — ' Yea.'' 

Stepping westward seemed to be 
A kind of heavenly destiny : 
I liked the greeting ! 'Twas a sound 
Of something without place or bound ; 
And seemed to give me spiritual right 
To travel through that region bright. 

The salutation had to me 
The very sound of courtesy ; 
Its powpr was felt ; and while my eye 
Was fixed upon the glowing Sky, 
The echo of the voice inwrought 
A human sweetness with the thought 
Of travelling through the world that lay. 
Before me in my endless way. 

59 



Jn a Sfeylar:k. 

Up with me ! up with me into the clouds ! 

For thy song, Lark, is strong ; 
Up with me ! up with me into the clouds ! 

Singing, singing. 
With clouds and sky about thee ringing, 

Lift me, guide me till I find 
That spot which seems so to thy mind ! 

There is joy divine 

In that song of thine : 

Lift me, guide me high and high 

To thy banqueting-place in the sky. 

Happy, happy Liver 
With a soul as strong as a mountain river 
Pouring out praise to the Almighty Giver. 



f atxcij and tb^ HLai^b. 

Fancy, who leads the pastimes of the glad. 
Full oft is pleased a wayward dart to throw ; 
Sending sad shadows after things not sad, 
Peopling the harmless fields with signs of woe : 
Beneath her sway, a simple forest cry 
Becomes an echo of man's miser}'. 

But ne'er could Fancy bend the buoyant Lark 
To melancholy service. — Hark ! O hark ! 

The daisy sleeps upon the dewy lawn, 
Not lifting yet the head that evening bowed ; 
But he is risen, a later star of dawn, 
Glittering and twinkling near yon rosy cloud : 
Bright gem instinct with music, vocal spark : 
The happiest bird that sprang out of the Ark. 
6i 



Wvixm efxid to SxxiJ. 

Many thousands now are sad, — 
Wait the fulfilment of their fear ; 
For he must die who is their stay, 
Their glory disappear. 

A Power is passing from the earth 
To breathless Nature's dark abyss ; 
But when the great and good depart, 
What is it more than this. — 

That Man, who is from God sent forth, 
Doth yet again to God return ?— 
Such ebb and flow must ever be. 
Then wherefore should we mourn ? 
6» 



Hopes, what are they ? Beads of morning 
Strung on slender blades of grass ; 

Or a spider's web adorning 
In a strait and treacherous pass. 

What is glory ? — in the socket 

See how dying tapers fare ! 
What is pride ? — a whizzing rocket 

That would emulate a star. 

What is truth ? — a staff rejected : 

Duty ? — an unwelcome clog ; 
Joy ? — a moon by fits reflected 

In a swamp or watery bog. 

What is youth ? — a dancing billow, 
Winds behind, and rocks before ! — 

Age ? — a drooping, tottering wiUow 
On a flat and lazy shore. 

6s 



T^u6 '^nvs^v. 



'Tis not in battles that from youth we train 
The Governor who must be wise and good, 
And temper with the sternness of the brain 
Thoughts motherly, and meek as womanhood. 
Wisdom doth live with children round her knees. 
Books, leisure, perfect freedom, and the talk 
Man holds with week-day man in the hourly v/alk 
Of the mind's business : these are the degrees 
By which true Sway doth mount ; this is the stalk 
True Power doth grow on : and her rights are these. 
64 



Intimatixxns ixt li^mxititality;. 

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting : 
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, 

Hath had elsewhere its setting, 

And cometh from afar : 

Not in entire forgetfulness. 

And not in utter nakedness. 
But traihng clouds of glory, do we come 
From God, who is our home. 

Hence in a season of calm weather 

Though inland far we be, 
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea 

Which brought us hither 

Can in a moment travel thither. 
And see the Children sport upon the shore, 
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore. 
65 



fho ^ximtixs^ txi the ^txch. 

That Primrose-tuft. 

A lasting; link in Nature's chain 
From highest heaven let down ! 
The flowers, still faithful to the stems, 

Their fellowship renew : 
The stems are faithful to the root, 

That worketh out of view : 
And to the rock the root adheres 

In every fibre true. 
Close clings to earth the living rock, 

Though threatening still to fall ; 
The earth is constant to her sphere ; 

And God upholds them all : 
So blooms this lonely Plant, nor dreads 

Her annual funeral. 



Ev^ninQ. 



It is a beauteous evening-, calm and free, 

The holy time is quiet as a Nun 

Breathless with adoration : the broad sun 

Is sinking down in its tranquillity ; 

The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea : 

Listen ! the mighty Being is awake, 

And doth with His eternal motion make 

A sound like thunder — everlastingly. 

Dear Child ! Dear Girl ! that walkest with me here, 

If thou appear untouched by solemn thought, 

Thy nature is not therefore less divine. 

Thou liest in Abraham's bosom aU the year ; 

And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine, 

God being with thee when we know it not. 

W 67 



Trust me, that for the instructed, time will come 

When they shall meet no object, but may teach 

Some acceptable lessons to their minds 

Of human suffering, or human joy. 

So shall they learn, while all things speak of man, 

Their duties from all forms, and general laws, 

And local accidents, shall tend alike 

To rouse, to urge : and, with the will confer 

The ability to spread the blessings wide 

Of true philanthropy. 



fair Creature ! in the light 

Of common day, so heavenly bright, 

1 bless thee, Vision as thou art, 

I bless thee with a human heart ; 
God shield thee to thy latest years ! 

With earnest feeling I shall pray 
For thee when I am far away : 
For never saw I mien, or face, 
In which more plainly I could trace 
Benignity and homebred sense 
Ripening in perfect innocence. 
Thou wear'st upon thy forehead clear 
The freedom of a mountaineer : 
A face with gladness overspread ! 
Soft smiles, by human kindness bred. 
69 



Maiden 3Lxxt;]eU»:e$$» 

The floating^ clouds their state shall lend 
To her ; for her the willow bend ; 

Nor shall she fail to see, 
Even in the motions of the Storm, 
Grace that shall mould the Maiden's form 

By silent sympathy. 
The stars of midnight shall be dear 
To her ; and she shall lean her ear 

In many a secret place 
Where rivulets dance their wayward round 
And beauty bom of murmuring sound 

Shall pass into her face. 
And vital feelings of delight 
Shall rear her form to stately height. 
70 



blithe new-comer ! I have heard, 

1 hear thee and rejoice. 

O Cuckoo ! shall I call thee Bird, 
Or but a wandering Voice ? 

Though babbling only to the Vale, 
Of sunshine and of flowers. 
Thou bringest unto me a tale 
Of visionary hours. 

Thrice, welcome, darling of the Spring ! 
Even yet thou art to me 
No bird, but an invisible thing, 
A voice, a mystery ! 
71 



Th^ Bawi^ xx{ Bating. 

The small birds twitter, 
The lake doth glitter, 

The green fields sleep in the sun ; 
The oldest and youngest 
Are at work with the strongest : 
The cattle are grazing, 
Their heads never raising : 

There are forty feeding like one ! 

Like an army defeated 
The snow hath retreated, 
And now doth fare ill 
On the top of the bare hill. 



There's joy in the mountains : 
There's life in the fountains : 
Small clouds are saUing 
Blue sky prevailing, 
The rain is over and gone I 



78 



The messfid Mmd. 

That blessed mood, 
In which the burden of the mystery, 
In which the heavy and the weary weight 
Of all this unintelligible world. 
Is lightened : — that serene and blessed mood, 
In which the affections gently lead us on, — 
Until, the breath of this corporeal frame 
And even the motion of our human blood 
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep 
In body, and become a Hving soul : 
While with an eye made quiet by the power 
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, 
We see into the life of things. 



That inward eye 
Which is the bliss of solitude. 



I have learned 
To look on nature, not as in the hour 
Of thoughtless youth ; but hearing oftenthnes 
The still, sad music of humanity. 
Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power 
To chasten and subdue. And I have felt 
A presence that disturbs me with the joy 
Of elevated thoughts : a sense sublime 
Of something far more deeply interfused, 
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, 
And the round ocean, and the living air, 
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man : 
A motion and a spirit, that impels 
All thinking things, all objects of all thought, 
And rolls through all things. 

74 



Yes, it was the mountain Echo, 
Solitary, clear, profound. 
Answering to the shouting Cuckoo, 
Giving to her sound for sound. 

Hears not also mortal Life ? 
Hears not we, unthinking Creatures ! 
Slaves of folly, love, or strife, — 
Voices of two different natures ? 

Have not we too ? — Yes, we have 
Answers, and we know not whence : 
Echoes from beyond the grave, 
Recognized inte'lUgence ! 

Such rebounds our inward ear 
Catches sometimes from afar :— 
Listen, ponder, hold them dear ; 
For of God,— of God they are. 

W 75 



Wtx a Skglark. 



Ethereal minstrel ! pilgrim of the sky ! 
Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound ? 
Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye 
Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground ? 
Thy nest, which thou canst drop into at will, 
Those quivering wings composed, that music still. 
Leave to the nightingale her shady wood : 
A privacy of glorious light is thine ; 
Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood 
Of harmony, with instinct more divine ; 
Type of the wise who soar, but never roam : 
True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home ! 
76 



Wishes. 

Hope rules a land for ever green : 

All powers that serve the bright-eyed Queen 

Are confident and gay : 
Clouds at her bidding disappear ; 
Points she to aught ?— the bhss draws near 

And Fancy smooths the way. 

Not such the land of Wishes,— there 
Dwell fruitless day-dreams, lawless prayer, 

And thoughts with things at strife : 
Yet how forlorn, should ye depart, 
Ye superstitions of the heart, 

How poor were human life I 
77 



Jesu ! bless our slender Boat, 

By the current swept along ; 
Loud its threatenings, — let them not 

Drown the music of a song 
Breathed Thy mercy to implore, 
Where these troubled waters roar ! 

Thou who trod'st the billowy sea, 
Shield us in our jeopardy ! 

Guide our Bark among the waves ; 

Through the rocks our passage smooth, 
Where the whirlpool frets and raves, 

Let Thy love its anger soothe : 
All our hope is placed in Thee ; 

Miserere Domine ! 
78 



O Life ! without thy checkered scene 
Of right and wrong-, of weal and woe, 
Success and failure, could a ground 
For magnanimity be found ; 
For faith, 'mid ruined hopes, serene ? 
Or whence could virtue flow ? 

Pain entered through a ghastly breach,— 
Nor while sin lasts must effort cease ; 
Heaven upon earth's an empty boast ; 
But, for the bowers of Eden lost, 
Mercy has placed within our reach 
A portion of God's peace. 



Whate'er we look on, at our side 

Be Charity !— to bid us think, and feel ! 

79 



Elate with view 
Of what is won, we overlook or scorn 
The best that should keep pace with it, and must, 
Else more and more the general mind will droop, 
Even as if bent on perishing. There lives 
No faculty within us which the Soul 
Can spare, and humblest earthly Weal demands. 
For dignity not placed beyond her reach. 
Zealous cooperation of all means 
Given or acquired, to raise us from the mire, 
And liberate our hearts from low pursuits 
By gross Utilities enslaved, we need 
More of ennobling impulse from the past, 
If to the future aught of good must come 
Sounder and therefore holier than the ends 
We covet as Supreme. 

80 



Iw4asting» 



I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide, 
As being passed away. — Vain sympathies I 
For, backward, .... as I cast my eyes 
I see what was, and is, and will abide : 
Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide ; 
The Form remains, the Function never dies ; 
While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise, 
We Men, who in our mom of youth defied 
The elements, must vanish ; — be it so ! 
Enough, if something from our hands have power 
To Hve, and act, and serve the future hour ; 
And if, as toward the silent tomb we go, 
Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower, 
We feel that we are greater than we know. 
8i 



Th^ S^av^ nt Bums. 

Sweet Mercy ! to the gates of Heaven 
This Minstrel lead, his sins forgiven ; 
The rueful conflict, the heart riven 

With vain endeavor, 
And memory of earth's bitter lesson, 

Effaced for ever. 

But why to Him confine the prayer 

When kindred thoughts and yearnings bear 

On the frail heart the purest share 

With all that live ?— 
The best of what we do and are, 

Just Godj forgive I 
Ss 



Action is transitory,— a step, a blow, 
The motion of a muscle, — ^this way or that, — 
'Tis done : and in the after-vacancy 
We wonder at ourselves like men betrayed : 
Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark. 
And has the nature of infinity. 
Yet through that darkness (infinite though it seem 
And irremovable) gracious openings lie, 
By which the Soul, — ^with patient steps of thought 
Now toiling, wafted now on wings of prayer — 
May pass in hope, and, though from mortal bonds 
Yet undelivered, rise with sure ascent 
Even to the fountain-head of peace divine. 
83 



My eyes are dim with childish tears, 

My heart is idly stirred, 
For the same sound is in my ears 

Which in those days I heard. 

Thus fares it still in our decay : 

And yet the wiser mind 
Mourns less for what age takes away 

Than what it leaves behind. 

But we are pressed by heavy laws ; 

And often, glad no more, 
We wear a face of joy, because 

We have been glad of yore. 
84 



liatoe^s Silts. 

From Nature doth emotion come, and moods 
Of calmness equally are Nature's gift : 
This is her glory ; these two attributes 
Are sister horns that constitute her strength. 
Hence Genius, born to thine by interchange 
Of peace and excitation, finds in her 
His best and purest friend, from her receives 
That energy by which he seeks the truth. 
From her that happy stillness of the mind 
Which fits him to receive it when unsought. 



I am .... well pleased to recognize 
In nature .... 

The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, 
The guide, the guardian of my heart and soul, 
Of all my moral being. 
8s 



She was a Woman of a steady mind, 
Tender and deep in her excess of love ; 
Not speaking much, pleased rather with the joy 
Of her own thoughts : by some especial care 
Her temper had been framed, as if to make 
A Being who by adding love to peace 
Might live on earth a life of happiness. 



A maid whom there were none to praise 

A violet by a mossy stone 

Half hidden from the eye I 
Fair as a star, when only one 

Is shining in the sky. 
86 



The gmmng txt Spring. 

It was an April morning ; fresh and clear 

The Rivulet, delighting in its strength 

Ran with a young man's speed : and yet the voice 

Of waters which the Winter had supphed 

Was softened down into a vernal tone. 

The spirit of enjoyment and desire, 

And hopes and wishes, from all living things 

Went circling, like a multitude of sounds. 

Meanwhile, prevailed 
An entire contentment in the air. 



The showers of the Spring 

Rouse the birds, and they sing 
If the wind do but stir for his proper delight, 
Each leaf, that and this, his neighbor will kiss ; 
Each wave, one and t' other, speeds after his brother , 
They are happy, for that is their right 1 



Sp^Dial Minutes in JLile. 

There are in our existence spots of time, 

That with distinct pre-eminence retain 

A renovating virtue, whence, depressed 

By false opinion and contentious thought, 

Or aught of heavier or more deadly weight, 

In trivial occupations, and the round 

Of ordinary intercourse, our minds 

Are nourished and invisibly repaired ; 

A virtue, by which pleasure is enhanced, 

That penetrates, enables us to mount, 

When high, more high, and lifts us up when fallen 

This efficacious spirit chiefly lurks 

Among those passages of hfe that gi^e 

Profoundest knowledge to what point, and how, 
The mind is lord and master, — outward sense 
The obedient servant of her will. 
88 



I knew a maid .... wise as women are 

When genial circumstance hath favored them, 

She welcomed what was given, and craved no more ; 

Whate'er the scene presented to her view. 

That was the best, to that she was attuned 

By her benigpi simplicity of life ; 

Birds in the bower, and lambs in the green field, 

Could they have known her, would have loved ; methought 

Her very presence such a sweetness breathed. 

That flowers and trees, and even the silent hills, 

And everything she looked on, should have had 

An intimation how she bore herself 

Towards them and to aU creatures. God delights 

In such a being : for her common thoughts 

Are piety, her life is gratitude. 



I held unconscious intercourse with beauty 
Old as creation, drinking in a pure 
Organic pleasure from the silver wreaths 
Of curling mist, or from the level plain 
Of waters colored by impending clouds. 

While mine eye hath moved o'er many a league 
Of shining water, gathering as it seemed 
Through every hair-breadth in that field of light 
New pleasure, like a bee among the flowers. 

The earth 
And common face of Nature spake to me 
Rememberable things. 

90 



Jptumtxl^ StxnXs. 



There are among the walks of homely life 
.... Men for contemplation framed, 
Meek men .... 

Theirs is the language of the heavens, the power, 
The thought, the image, and the silent joy : 
Words are but under-agents in their souls ; 
When they are grasping with their greatest strength, 
They do not breathe among them : this I speak 
In gratitude to God, who feeds our hearts 
For His own service : knoweth, loveth us, 
WTien we are unregarded by the world. 



fix ih^ '^it§in. 

Mother ! whose virgin bosom was uncrost 
With the least shade of tnought to sin allied : 
Woman ! above all woman glorified, 
Our tainted nature's solitary boast ; 
Purer than foam on central ocean tost ; 
Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn 
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon 
Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast ; 
Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween, 
Not unforgiven the suppliant knee must bend, 
As to a visible Power, in which did blend 
All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee 
Of Mother's love, with maiden purity, 
Of high with low, celestial with terrene I 



There is a blessing in the air, 
Which seems a sense of joy to yield 

To the bare trees, and mountains bare, 
And grass in the green field. 

Love, now a universal birth, 
From heart to heart is stealing 

From earth to man, from man to earth 
It is the hour of feeling. 

One moment now may give us more 
Than years of toihng reason : 

Our minds shall drink at every pore 
The spirit of the season. 

And from the blessed power that rolls 

About, below, above, 
We'U frame the measure of our souls : 

They shall be tuned to love. 



0^:0 ta Butg:. 



Stem Daughter of the Voice of God I 
O Duty ! if that name thou love, 
Who art a light to guide, a rod 
To check the erring, and reprove : 
Thou, who art victory and law 
When empty terrors overawe. 
From vain temptations dost set free, 
And calm'st the weary strife of frail humanity I 
Stem Lawgiver I yet thou dost wear 
The Godhead's most benignant grace : 
Nor know we anjrthing so fair 
As is the smile upon thy face ; 
Flowers laugh before thee on their beds, 
And fragrance in thy footing treads. 
Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong : 
And the most ancient heavens, through thee, are fresh and strong. 

94 



Nature to its inmost part 

Faith had refined : and to her heart 

A peaceful cradle given : 

Calm as the dew-drops, free to rest 

Within a breeze-fanned rose's breast 

Till it exhales to Heaven. 

Was ever spirit that could bend 
So graciously ? — that could descend 
Another's need to suit 
So promptly from her lofty throne ? 
In works of love, in these alone 
How restless, how minute I 



In her face and mien 
The soul's pure brightness, he beheld 
Without a veil between. 
95 



Oh ! let Thy Word prevail, to take away 
The sting of human nature. Spread the law, 
As it is written in Thy holy book, 
Throughout all lands : let every nation hear 
The high behest, and every heart obey : 
Both for the love of purity, and hope 
Which it affords, to such as do Thy will 
And persevere in good, that they shall rise, 
To have a nearer view of Thee, in Heaven. 
Father of good I this prayer in bounty grant. 



That glorious Star 
In its untroubled element will shine 
As now it shines, when we are laid in earth 
And safe from all our sorrows. 
96 



^:^Ump^i)tiixn. 



ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves, 
Forebode not any severing of our loves ! 

Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might ; 

1 only have relinquished one delight 

To live beneath your more habitual sway. 
I love the Brooks which down their channels fret, 
Even more than when I tripped lightly as they ; 
The innocent brightness of a new-born day 

Is lovely yet : 
The Clouds that gather round the setting sun 
Do take a sober coloring from an eye 
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality ; 
Another race hath been, and other palms are won, 
Thanks to the human heart by which we live. 
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys and fears, 
To me the meanest flower that blows can give 
Thoughts that do often he too deep for tears. 

97 



Th^ Wtxtxn and lAU. 

How beautiful the Queen of Night, on high 
Her way pursuing among scattered clouds, 
When, ever and anon, her head she shrouds, 
Hidden from view in dense obscurity. 
But look, and to the watchful eye 
A brightening edge will indicate that soon 
We shall behold the struggling Moon 
Break forth, again to walk the clear blue sky. 

So changes mortal Life with fleeting years : 
A mournful change, should Reason fail to bring 
The timely insight that can temper fears. 
And from vicissitude remove its sting : 
While Faith aspires to seats in that domain 
Where joys are perfect, — ^neither wax nor wane. 
98 



For us who here in funeral strain 
With one accord our voices raise, 
Let sorrow overcharged with pain 
Be lost in thankfulness and praise. 

And when our hearts shall feel a stingf 
From iU we meet or good we miss, 
May touches of his memory bring 
Fond healing, like a mother's kiss. 

O true of heart, of spirit gay. 
Thy faults, where not already gone 
From mem or}', prolong their stay 
For charity's sweet sake alone. 

Such solace find we for our loss ; 
And what beyond this thought we crave 
Comes in the promise from the Cross 
Shining upon thy happy grave. 

W 99 



Man, if he do but live within the light 
Of high endeavors, daily spreads abroad 
His being around with strength that cannot fail. 



I was as sensitive as waters are 
To the sky's influence. 

Was as obedient as a lute 

That waits upon the touches of the wind. 

Unknown, unthought of, yet I was most rich,- 

I had a world about me, — 'twas my own ; 

I made it, for it only lived to me, 

And to the God who sees into the heart. 



Learn by mortal yearning to ascend, — 
Seeking a higher object. Love was given chiefly for that end. 



Unless above himself he can 
Erect himself, how poor a thing is Man ! 



On its sunny bank the primrose-flower 
Peeped forth, to give an earnest of the spring. 



She — in her worst distress, had ofttimes felt 

The unbounded might of prayer : and learned, with soul 

Fixed on the Cross, that consolation springs 

From sources deeper far than deepest pain. 



Rich in love 
And sweet humanity, he was, himself, 
To the degree that he desired beloved. 



Calm did he sit under the wide-spread tree 
Of his old age. 



That Volume, — ^as a compass for the soul, 
Revered among the Nations. 



Our spirits braced, our thoughts 
Pleasant as roses in the thickets blown, 
And pure as dew bathing their crimson leaves. 



Verily, methinks 
Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop 
Than when we soar ! 



That which has been done no wishes can undo. 



No fountain from its rocky cave 
E'er tripped with foot so free : 
She seemed as happy as a wave 
That dances on the sea. 



The immortal mind craves objects that endure : 
Those cleave to it ; from those it cannot roam, 
Nor they from it : their fellowship is secure. 



My soul hath fears 
Breathed from eternity : for as a dart 
Cleaves the blank air, Life flies, now every day 
Is but a glimmering spoke in the swift wheel 
Of the revolving week. 

103 



Can that be Joy I 
Who, with a sunbeam for her guide, 
Smoothly skims the meadows wide ; 
While Faith, from yonder opening cloud, 
To hill and vale proclaims aloud, 
* Whate'er the weak may dread, the wicked dare, 
Thy lot, O Man, is good, thy portion fair ! ' 



The power of the hills is on thee. 



Softly she treads, as if her foot were loth 
To crush the mountain dew-drops, — soon to melt 
On the flower's breast : as if she felt 
That flowers themselves, whate'er their hue, 
With all their fragrance, all their glistening, 
Call to the heart for inward listening. 
104 



A primrose by a river's brim 
A yellow primrose was to him, 
And it was nothing more. 



The soft blue sky did never melt 
Into his heart : he never felt 
The witchery of the soft blue sky 1 



Let good men feel the soul of nature, 
And see things as they are. 



A holy sense pervades his mind ; 
He feels what he for human-kind 
Had never felt before, 

That man's heart is a holy thing, 
los 



Powers manifold we have that intervene 

To stir the heart that would too closely screen 

Her peace from images to pain allied. 



Past, present, future, all appeared 

In harmony imited : 
Like guests that meet, and some from far, 

By cordial love invited. 



If ... . some natural shadows spread 

Our inward prospect over, 
The soul's deep valley was not slow 

Its brightness to recover. 



The visions of the past 
Sustain the heart in feeling 
Life as she is, — our changeful Life. 
io6. 



Man is as grass that springeth up at mom, 

Grows green, and is cut down and withereth 

Ere nightfall,— truth that well may claim a sigh 

Its natural echo : but hope comes reborn 

At Jesus' bidding. We rejoice, " O Death, 

Where is thy Sting ? — O Grave, where is thy Victory ? " 



Friendship lasts though fellowship is broken I 



Day's purple eye 
Is gently closing with the flowers of Spring : 
Even the motion of an Angel's wing 
Would interrupt the intense tranquillity 
Of silent hills, and the more silent sky. 
107 



'Tis my faith that every flower 
Enjoys the air it breathes. 

The budding twigs spread out their fan 

To catch the breezy air : 
And I must think, do all I can, 

That there was pleasure there. 



One impulse from a vernal wood 
May teach you more of man. 

Of moral evil and of good, 
Than all the sages can. 



Our thoughts are heard in heaven ! 
loS 



Life's morning radiance hath not left the hills, 
Her dew is on the flowers. 



The peace 
That comes with night : the deep solemnity 
Of nature's intermediate hours of rest 
When the great tide of human life stands still ; 
The business of the day to come, unborn. 
Of that gone by, locked up, as in the grave. 



There is 
One great society alone on earth : 
The noble Living and the noble Dead. 



In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts 
Bring sad thoughts to the mind. 



If Faith were left untried, 
How could the might that lurks within her then 
Be shown ? her glorious excellence, that ranks 
Among the first of Powers and Virtues, proved ? 



True indeed it is 
That they whom death has hidden from our sight 
Are worthiest of the mind's regard : with them 
The future cannot contradict the past. 



Communities are lost, and Empires die, 
And things of holy use unhallowed lie ; 
They perish :— but the Intellect can raise 
From aiiy words alone, a Pile that ne'er decays, 
no 



He who afflicts me knows what I can bear ; 
And, when I fail, and can endure no more, 
Will mercifully take me to Himself. 



Blest are they 
Whose sorrow rather is to suffer wrong: 
Than to do wrong. 



God, who takes away, yet takes not half 
Of what He seems to take ; or gives it back, 
Not to our prayer, but far beyond our prayer. 



There's not a man 
That lives who hath not known his God-like hours. 



Innocence is strong. 
And in entire simplicity of mind 
A thing most sacred in the eye of Heaven, 



To be weak is to be wretched. 



A light of duty shines on every day 

For all ; and yet how few are warned or cheered I 



Ah ! what a warning for a thoughtless man, 
Could field or grove, could any spot of earth, 
Show to his eye an image of the pangs 
Which it hath witnessed : render back an echo 
Of the sad steps by which it hath been trod 1 



Like a shadow thrown 
Softly and lightly from a passing cloud, 
Death fell upon him. 



Woe to the purblind crew who fill 
The heart with each day's care : 
Nor gain, from past or future, skill 
To bear, and to forbear ! 

So fair, so sweet, withal so sensitive. 

Would that the little Flowers were bom to live, 

Conscious of half the pleasure which they give. 

Feel for all, as brother Men ! 
Rest not in hope want's icy chain to thaw 
By casual boons and formal charities : 
Leaiii to be just, just through impartial law : 
Far as ye may, erect and equalize, 
And what ye cannot reach by statute, draw 
Each from his fountain of self-sacrifice. 
"3 



Sweetest melodies 
Are those that are by distance made more sweet. 



Whose mind is but the mind of his own eyes 
He is a Slave : the meanest we can meet ! 



Books we know 
Are a substantial world, both pure and good. 



Slowly did her succor come, 
And a patience to her grief. 

O, there is never sorrow of heart 
That shall lack a timely end, 
If but to God we turn, and ask 
Of Him to be our friend 1 
114 



If thou art beautiful, and youth 

And thought endue thee with all truth, — 

Be strong : — be worthy of the grace 

Of God, and fill thy destined place : 

A Soul, by force of sorrows high, 

Uplifted to the purest sky 

Of undisturbed humanity. 



Golden cords 
Of good works .... raise 
The Soul to purer worlds ; and who the line 
Shall draw, the limits of the power define. 
That even imperfect faith to man affords ? — 



Conscience never can betray. 
Peace of mind is Virtue's sure effect. 
W IIS 



Say, that he was wise as brave : 
As wise in thought as bold in deed : 
For in the principles of things 
He sought his moral creed. 



Learn, 

To watch and ponder — to discern 
The freshness, the everlasting youth 
Of admiration, sprung from truth : 
From beauty infinitely growing 
Upon a mind with love o'erflowing. 



AH things are less dreadful than they seem. 



Bliss with mortal Man may not abide 
How nearly joy and sorrow are allied I 
ii6 



That best portion of a good man's life, 
His little, nameless, unremembered acts 
Of kindness and of love. 



You must needs have felt it is 

In darkness and in tempest that we seek 

The majesty of Him who rules the world. 



Hushed be every thought that springs 
From out the bitterness of things ; 
Her quiet is secure : 
No thorns can pierce her tender feet, 
Whose life was, like the violet, sweet, 
As climbing jasmine, pure. 



Sorrow, but for Higher trust, 
How miserably deep I 



Disasters, do the best we can, 
Will reach both great and small ; 
And he is oft the wisest man, 
Who is not wise at all. 



A deep distress hath humanized my soul. 
Not for a moment could I now behold 
A smiling sea, and be what I have been ; 
The feeling of my loss will ne'er be old ; 
This, which I know, I speak with mind serene. 



Absence and death how differ they ! and how 
Shall I admit that nothing can restore 
What one short sigh so easily removed ? 
Death, life, and sleep, reality and thought, 
Assist me, God, their boundaries to know I 
O teach me calm submission to Thy Will ! 
ii8 



True friends, though diversely inclined, 
But heart with heart and mind with mind, 
Where the main fibres are entwined, 

Through Nature's skill, 
May even by contraries be joined 
More closely still. 



Often do I find, 
Power in my breast, wmgs growing in my mind. 



Verily, good deeds 
Do no imperishable record find, 
Save in the rolls of heaven. 



Frail is the bond by which we hold 
Our being, whether young or old, 
Wise, foolish, weak, or strong. 



' Miserrimus ! " and neither name nor date, 
Prayer, text, or symbol, graven upon the stone : 

Stranger, pass 
Softly ! — To save the contrite, Jesus bled. 



Why to God's goodness cannot we be true, 
And so, His gifts and promises between, 
Feed to the last on pleasures ever new ? 



Hope had her spire 
Star-high, and pointing still to something higher. 



'Twas autumn, and a clear and placid day, 
.... A day 

With silver clouds, and sunshine on the grass, 
And in the sheltered and the sheltering grove, 
A perfect stillness. 



How blest the souls who when their trials come 
Yield not to terror or despondency. 



The bright Star appeared in eastern skies, 
Announcing, One was bom mankind to free ; 
His acts, His wrongs. His final sacrifice ; 
Lessons for every heart, a Bible for all eyes. 



Time halts not in his noiseless march, 
Nor turns, nor winds, as doth the liquid flood ; 
Life slips from underneath us, like that arch 
Of airy workmanship whereon we stood, 
Earth stretched below, heaven in our neighborhood. 



Who would keep 
Power must resolve to cleave to it through life, 
Else it deserts him, surely as he lives. 



May 

Age steal to his allotted work 

Contented and serene : 

With heart as calm as lakes that sleep 

In frosty moonlight glistening : 

Or mountain rivers, where they creep 

Along a channel smooth and deep, 

To their own far-off murmurs listening. 



Ay, look up — 
Cast round you your mind's eye, and you will learn 
Fortitude is the child of Enterprise : 
Great actions move our admiration, chiefly 
Because they carry in themselves an earnest 
That we can suffer greatly. 



So meet extremes in this mysterious world, 
And opposites thus melt into each other. 



The sky rejoices in the morning's birth. 



Earth is wide, and many a nook 
Unheard of is . . . . a book 
For modest meanings dear. 



In truth the prison, unto which we doom 
Ourselves, no prison is. 



Love betters what is best 
Even here below, but more in heaven above. 



A Man he seems of cheerful yesterdays 
And confident to-morrows. 



Sing aloud 
Old songs, the precious music of the heart. 



Look at the fate of summer flowers, 
Which blow at daybreak, droop ere even-song : 
And, grieved for their brief date, confess that ours, 
Measured by what we are and ought to be, 
Measured by all that, trembling, we foresee, 
Is not so long ! 



O joy I that in our embers 
Is something that doth live, 
That Nature yet remembers 
What was so fugitive. 



His daily teachers had been woods and rills, 
The silence that is in the starry sky, 
The sleep that is among the lonely hills. 
124 



Glad sight wherever new with old 

Is joined, through some dear home-bom tie ! 

The life of all that we behold 

Depends upon that mystery. 

Vain is the glory of the sky, 

The beauty vain of field and grove, 

Unless, while with admiring eye 

We gaze, we also learn to love. 



A child, more than all other gifts 
Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts. 



We'll talk of sunshine and of song. 
And summer days, when we were young ; 
Sweet childish days, that were as long 
As twenty days are now. 



Loving and liking are the solace of life. 

But likings come and pass away : 
'Tis love that remains till our latest day : 
Our heavenward guide is holy love, 
And will be our bliss with saints above. 



O would that eyes could see the heart ! 



The just in effort 
Are of inward peace secure. 



Worse than idle is compassion 
If it ends in tears and sighs. 



There is a comfort in the strength of love ; 
'Twill make a thing endurable, which else 
Would overset the brain, or break the heart. 



The seed must lie 
Hid in the earth, or there can be no harvest : 
'Tis Nature's law. 



If rightly trained and bred, 

Humanity is humble, finds no spot 
Which her Heaven-guided feet refuse to tread. 



Better to thank a dear and long-past day 

For joy its sunny hours were free to give 

Than blame the present, that our wish hath crossed. 

Memory, like sleep, hath powers which dreams obey, 

Dreams, vivid dreams, that are not fugitive : 

How little that she cherishes is lost ! 

127 



God for His service needeth not proud work of human skill : 
They please Him best who labor most to do in peace His will ; 
So let us strive to live, and to our Spirit's will be g^ven 
Such wings as, when our Saviour calls, shall bear us up to heaven 



One poor moment can suffice 
To equalize the lofty and the low. 
We sail the sea of life, — a Calm one finds, 
And one a Tempest, — and, the voyage o'er, 
Death is the quiet haven of us all. 



May the Soul, through powers that Faith bestows, 
Win rest, and ease, and peace, with bliss that Angels share. 
128 



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